Law

Quick overview of the H-1B Visa application process

The H-1B visa allows foreign workers to find jobs in the US. An H-1B visa applicant needs to have a bachelor’s degree or higher from a college or university in the US, or equivalent degree from another country. However, a foreign national professional cannot apply for H-1B visa on their own. Their employer in the US will have to follow the due process. Employers may benefit hugely from working with a Dallas H-1B visa attorney, who can help with requirements and due processes. In this post, we are sharing more on the H-1B Visa application process. 

  • Step 1: The employer makes an employment offer to the applicant. The applicant could be working with any other company at that point. Once the foreign worker has accepted the offer, the employer will take the necessary steps to get the H-1B Visa. 
  • Step 2: The employer needs to file a Labor Condition Application (LCA) with the U.S. Department of Labor, using the online iCERT Portal System. In the LCA, the employer will attest that the employee will be paid the prevalent wage and the working conditions are safe for the employee. 
  • Step 3. The employer, once LCA is approved, will file Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, Form I-129 with The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS. This can take considerable time, often as long as four months, but USCIS has a premium processing option too. 

Note that H-1B petitions are subject to an annual cap, so the demand for the visa is quite high. In total, 85,000 spots are available in a fiscal year, of which 20,000 spots are reserved for those who have a master’s degree or higher from an institution in the US. Note that the processing is done randomly. The USCIS will do a lottery to select the accepted petitions, following which the foreign worker needs to go their US embassy in their respective country for an interview. 

Find a visa attorney

If you want to hire foreign national workers for your company in the US and don’t want to feel overwhelmed with the due process and steps involved (considering that everything is to be done by the employer), you should consider talking to an immigration lawyer or visa attorney. The best visa attorneys know what it takes to complete the due process, and they will help with the paperwork, right from LCA and beyond, so that you can focus on hiring right people.